The railway line
Maastricht-Aachen was first operated in 20 Oktober 1853. In 1841
the initiators of the respective Chambers of Commerce came with a letter
of recommendation to the Governor of Limburg Province. The Dutch
Parliament refused this proposal for the construction vehemently. Limburg was
far away, the "fort Maastricht" had to remain closed and shipping was
considered more important then building railroads.. In 1846 the Aachen-Mastrichter Eisenbahn Gesellschaft
got the concession in the end for a reason : the charcoal from the
Dominion Mines in Kerkrade had to be transported to Germany. In 1856 the
line was extended to Hasselt
in Belgium, but only in 1872
the Dominion Mines were connected with Simpelveld
by means of a narrow-gauge line.
In 1992 the Dutch
Railways closed down the section between Vetschau - Schin_op_Geul by
literally breaking up the turn-outs at Schin_op_Geul ! At Vetschau a
buffer was screwed on the rails ! From 1995 the
ZLSM (Zuid-Limburgse Stoomtrein
Maatschappij) operates this section as a touristical
Steamtrain Company.
